Our Way Forward (OWF) · Empower'em's flagship mentorship program
✓ 100% free · Funded by the Ontario Trillium FoundationMentorship built around your whole life, not just your career.
Our Way Forward (OWF) is a free 24-week virtual mentorship program for women of colour, matched by lived experience rather than just career stage.
Mentor and mentee applications are open now. Mentee applications close October 31, 2026.
A note on eligibility: OWF is currently funded through the Ontario Trillium Foundation's Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) and open to Ontario residents. The broader Empower'em community initiatives, including the newsletter, events, and the Em'bassador program, are open to all women of colour across Canada. We're working towards expanding access to the mentorship program nationally.
Info session · Free · On Zoom
Curious about the mentorship program? Come to our info session.
Why this program is different
Most mentorship doesn't make room for the full weight you're carrying.
Most mentorship comes from good intentions. But the lived-experience gap is often too wide, so you end up spending your session explaining context instead of working through it.
OWF matches you with someone who already knows the context: your background, your identity, what you're actually navigating. The conversation starts further along than it usually does.
What you bring is already enough.
- You've navigated and built within systems that weren't designed for you
- Your cultural knowledge has real, transferable value
- You've built resilience no curriculum can teach
What's included
24 weeks of programming, all of it intentional.
Every element here was built for this community specifically: the sessions, the workshops, the resources. None of it is adapted from a generic mentorship template.
One-on-one sessions
Six dedicated sessions with your matched mentor, shaped by what you actually need rather than a fixed agenda.
Community meetups
Virtual gatherings that bring the full cohort together. The connections formed here often outlast the program.
Workshops
Facilitated sessions on identity, self-advocacy, and navigating professional spaces as a woman of colour.
Peer support sessions
Smaller, honest spaces for the things that don't fit elsewhere: mental health, belonging, the weight of it all.
Socials
Low-key connection outside the structured agenda. Some of the best community moments happen here.
Resources
Materials built for women of colour navigating growth, not repurposed from spaces that weren't made for us.
How matching works
You're matched by experience, not just industry.
We look at your cultural background, what you're navigating, and what kind of support you need, including language where that matters to you.
Screened mentors submit a profile, and mentees provide their top choices. Our team makes the final match, guided by shared lived experience and cultural context.
Application
You apply and tell us about your background and what you want to work on.
Interview
We review every application, then invite applicants who pass screening to a short introduction call.
Mentor profiles submitted
Screened mentors submit a profile for the mentees in the round.
Mentee top choices submitted
Mentees review those profiles and submit their top choices.
Team discussion and final pairing
Our team discusses the possible pairs together and makes the final pairing decision.
Several of our mentors have returned across multiple rounds. Not because they had to, but because the connections built here are real.
- Shared cultural and identity context
- Lived experience in the areas you want to grow
- Language matching where relevant
- Both mentor and mentee are women of colour
Program timeline
How a round works.
Mentee applications open October 1, 2026. Mentor applications are open year-round. Follow us on Instagram to hear first.
October
Applications open
Mentee applications open for the month; mentors apply year-round
January
Program begins
Round 7 kicks off in January 2027, with an orientation for all participants
March
Midpoint
Community events, peer support, and reflection
June
Closing celebration
The program ends and the alumni network begins
What to expect
What the 24 weeks look like.
You don't have to wonder what happens next. This is how our program is shaped:
An email starts things off, you'll be invited to build your profile on our new platform. Following this, you will receive a welcome package in the mail in the coming weeks, a few things our team hand picked out because we wanted your first moment in this program to feel special.
The round kicks off with an orientation session in January, where you'll meet everyone in your program (all the mentees and mentors!) virtually.
Then the real work starts: throughout the 24 weeks, you will have six one-on-one sessions with your mentor/mentee, an hour each. We'll suggest a timeline to help you pace them out, but the exact date and time you meet is yours to decide together.
Around these sessions, there's a rhythm to the round.
- Community meetups & peer support sessions, spaced across the round.
- Four workshops.
- Social & networking events, in person and virtual. Optional, come when you can.
Our mentors aren't volunteering their expertise into the void. Every matched mentor in OWF receives an honorarium, because real time deserves real recognition.
Over 90% of our matches land. If yours isn't one of them, that's not a failure, it's a fit issue, and we'll help you sort it.
The round ends in June. Your journey with us doesn't. You're alumni the moment our program wraps up, and you'll join one of 100+ women of colour still showing up for each other long after the last session.
Five years of OWF
What five rounds built.
182
Mentees
98
Mentors
292
Sessions
54
Events
28
Languages
Several of our mentors have returned across multiple rounds. Not because they had to, but because the connections built here are real.
Before you apply
You might be wondering.
Is this only for people in Ontario?
OWF is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and open to Ontario residents. The broader Empower'em community is open to all women of colour across Canada. We're a federally incorporated nonprofit, and we're working toward national program access.
What if I've never had a mentor before?
That's okay. Most people applying are coming to this for the first time. You don't need a polished career question ready, just openness to the conversation. That's genuinely enough.
What does "matched by lived experience" actually mean?
It means we look beyond your industry and career stage. We consider your cultural background, your identity, and the kinds of challenges you're navigating, and we pair you with someone who has moved through something similar. The context is already there from the first session.
Is there a cost?
No. OWF is completely free, made possible by the Ontario Trillium Foundation's Youth Opportunities Fund.
Is what I share confidential?
Yes. What's shared in your mentorship sessions and peer support spaces stays there. We don't share your application, your profile, or anything you say in community spaces without your permission.
What if it's not the right time for me right now?
Stay on our newsletter. You'll hear about future rounds and community opportunities without any pressure to apply before you're ready.
Still have questions? Email us at info@empowerem.ca.
Not the right time right now?
Stay on our newsletter.
Not ready to apply, or already committed elsewhere this round? Hear about future rounds, community events, and opportunities, no pressure to apply before you're ready.